Come As You Are Ch. 16

"I'm getting my ass kicked." Garrett leaned against the high top and put his head in his hands. "I'm getting my ass kicked like every time I've gone up against Danny. Shit. I'm going to lose and get humiliated. I never should have agreed to this."

Brenda reached over and shook Garrett's shoulder. "You're only down three games. You've got five minutes to refocus and go back fresh. Take a breath and clear your mind."

"I can't. He's better than I thought he'd be. That last game I tried putting the cue ball where he couldn't take a shot and he still made them like he was on the pro tour." He dragged his fingers along the side of his nose. "Every time I close my eyes Danny's punching me in the face. Again. He's got my number. He's always had my fucking number."

"Hey, hey!" Vienna threw an arm around Garrett's shoulder to pull him close. "This isn't high school. We're adults now. You're not standing in front of your locker or in the gym. This is neutral ground right here."

"Doesn't matter. He's fucking Michael Myers. Every time I think I'm safe... this was a bad idea..."

X X X X X

"You should ask him what happened seven years ago."

Colette blinked, startled at the familiar voice. "Not now," she whispered to the projection of her ex-husband standing just out of her field of vision. "This is serious."

"So am I." Colette could feel Theo's breath tickling her ear. Despite standing next to her current lover in the company of their friends, the memory of the sensation threatened to make her shiver. "Whatever made this young man bolt like a thoroughbred all that time past is tied to who he's playing pool against. You wanted to ask him a few weeks ago, but you stopped yourself. Now would be the dramatically appropriate time to make that inquiry. Mr. Eastman opened the door with his statement. All you have to do is walk through."

When she turned her head, Theo wasn't there. It was only Brian Turner from her graduating class standing at the next table over. Vienna was still attempting to console Garrett who was drowning his sorrows without the assistance of alcohol. Colette cleared her throat and lightly scratched her chest before asking quietly, "What did Danny do to you seven years ago?"

When Garrett turned to look at her, so did everyone else at the table. "Danny said it's been seven years," explained Colette. "That's when you ran. Ever since you came back you've had this haunted look in your eyes that hasn't gone away. And now you're choking when you should be kicking Danny's ass. Call me Phillip fucking Marlowe and tell us what he did to you, Garrett."

Garrett rubbed his face with his hands before mumbling, "Danny jumped me the night I left town." When he lifted his head, deep, unabiding fear was evident in his emerald eyes. "Remember, Gio? You and I had called it an early night at Pike's but I stopped at Sadie's. Just to say hi but one thing led to several others. I went home with a big smile on my face and that was enough for Danny to follow me to my driveway and slam me against a tree a couple of times." Pointing a finger in the direction of the main doors, he exclaimed, "When I tried to ask you out on a date after the blizzard, Brenda, Danny showed up and kicked my ass to the point that Coach Walters felt sorry for me. Prom night, he gets drunk and comes looking for me because he didn't finish the job on the dance floor, and then he does the same thing after graduation. And last night, the second Sadie kisses me, he fucking cold cocks me."

With his fists clenched tightly against his shoulders, a rending sigh bubbled up from the depths of Garrett's soul. "Every time things start going my way, Danny's been right there. I can't beat him. Every time I start to win, he makes sure I lose. And now..."

His shoulders slumped. Chin tucked against his chest, Garrett looked utterly beaten. Even Vienna's question failed to ignite an emotional spark. "Danny's the reason you ran away? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't any of us say anything?" He looked his friend in the eye. "We all say we're the best of friends and yet we've kept secrets from each other all this time. I just... just..."

"That's it." Vienna chugged the rest of her tequila. "Gio, you and I and going to go break his fucking fingers and shove that pool cue so far up his ass..."

"And it'll get broken up immediately." Gio motioned to the two rugged men and the tall blonde now standing inside the front door to the bar. "We walk up on Danny and not only does Tyler get involved but so do these goons Kim shipped down from Copperton."

"Motherfucker." Vienna picked up her glass, only to slam it back down on the table when she realized it was empty. "Getting away with torturing my best friend just because he can shoot a basketball." She glared across the lounge at Danny. "It's not fair. It's just not fucking fair."

"It's the world, Vienna. That's how it works. Success forgives a lot of sins." Garrett sighed as he saw Danny say something to Tyler and Amy, the latter laughing as she laid a hand on his arm. "Twenty-eight years old and this is where I am. Fuck. Danny's right. I am a loser..."

"OK, this goddamn motherfucking pity party ends now." Sadie slid off her chair and somehow managed to purposefully stride the few feet between her and where Garrett stood. "I'll take a little low self-esteem because we've all been there, but this complete and utter emotional collapse I'm witnessing? Stop it."

There was iron in Sadie's voice as she told him, "Look at me." Even in the dim lighting of the bar, Garrett's emerald eyes shimmered like an autumn pond. "Tough love time, Garrett. You are a footnote in your own life story. Everyone else is writing chapter after chapter and you're barely out of your prologue. All of the things you've done in your life are part of someone else's tale. But that's understandable when every time you begin running Danny shoots you with the starting gun."

Garrett didn't say a word. His entire focus was on Sadie. No side glances, no annoyed sighs, not even nods of agreement. He was locked on to what she was saying. Steepling her fingers in front of her mouth, Sadie blew out a deep breath. "Every single person in this room has stumbled, or hit a roadblock, or fucked up in a major way." Sadie thumped her chest. "Trust me, you're talking to the ticket taker on the Hot Mess Express. We've all had setbacks. But they were stumbling blocks, not final chapters."

She poked him in the shoulder. "You need to start writing your own life story and right over there is Chapter One, 'How Garrett Got His Groove Back.' It can't be Colette's Garrett, the one who's back in town trying to figure out what to do with his life. It can't be Brenda's Garrett, the one who was always looking over his shoulder in fear. And it can't be my Garrett because sex and booze can't be the only two mixers in your life. You need to be Michelle's Garrett. The self-confident Garrett who overcame his fears and helped my friend figure out a piece of her puzzle. The Garrett who skied a triple black diamond. The Garrett who counter-hustled a guy on Spring Break. That's the Garrett you need."

He closed his eyes. Sadie could see his body trembling slightly as he slowly, carefully nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do this. I've done this before. He's just a bigger fish."

"There you go. Go over there and kick his ass, so tonight you and I can have some incredible victory sex."

Garrett cocked his head. "What makes sex victory sex?"

"Once you've cum I'll play the victory fanfare from Final Fantasy VII," she grinned.

"Does that mean you're going to play a song during sex?"

"The battle theme from IX. It's got the best opening lead-up." Sadie leaned in and pressed her lips against his with a firm, lingering kiss. When she let go, Sadie gave a stunned Garrett a friendly smack on the cheek. "What are you waiting for?" she smirked. "You have five games to win."

With a short, sharp nod of affirmation, Garrett began to step away from the table. Before he could, however, Colette placed a hand on his forearm. When he turned to face her she put her other hand on the back of his head and gave him a kiss of her own. As opposed to the pep rally style of Sadie's liplock, Colette's kiss was gentle and reassuring. "Think the end of the The Color of Money and not The Hustler," she told him softly as she pulled away. Once again Garrett nodded and started moving towards the pool table...

"Oh, fuck it."

Where Colette's kiss was soft, Michelle's kiss held the fury of a raging forest fire. She poured everything she had into it, grabbing Garrett's shirt and pulling him close, not caring about the presence of her friends, high school classmates, and even total strangers. Once again, for a brief moment, she claimed him for her and her alone. "There," she told him, "that should bring my Garrett to the surface. And when I tell Andrew what I just did, you guys are all my witnesses as to why I did it."

Garrett laughed for the first time that evening. As he did, his eyes fell across Vienna who immediately put her fist out to him. "No kiss, just fists." He laughed again, smiling at his best friend while they bumped hands.

This time when Garrett turned around, Evelyn was there. He almost jumped with shock, as a moment ago she had been sitting next to Gio. "When in Rome," she whispered while softly caressing his cheek. The kiss they shared was light and airy, almost imaginary save for the dark cherry taste of Evelyn's lip gloss. "Daniel has been your King of Pain for too long," she told him. "However, it is better to rip the crown from a clenched fist rather than a weak grip."

A hand fell on his shoulder. "Like she said, when in Rome." The entire table fell quiet as Gio proceeded to kiss Garrett. It wasn't a peck on the cheek or a "hey bro we're bros" kiss. It was a genuine act of friendship and affection done without any hesitation or phobia that lingered for several moments.

When Gio pulled back, Garrett found himself chuckling. "Dude," he asked his friend, "where did that come from?"

"I'm as invested in this as you are. Besides, you kissed me last night, remember? Just returning the favor."

"Well I'm not going to be left out of the fun," Brenda laughed as she slid from her chair. "This is all my fault anyway." The smile fell from Garrett's face as Brenda approached him, replaced by hesitant nervousness. There was a slight hitch in the young man's breathing as Brenda laid her hands on his chest before leaning in to softly kiss him. It wasn't flirty, or reassuring, or passionate. It was a simple, basic, kiss, which made it all the sweeter even as it sent a twinge of jealousy up Sadie's spine.

"Don't say this was your fault," she heard Garrett tell Brenda. "You were the first step along a long and winding road with more improbable moments than I can count."

"Go finish this then," Brenda told him as she ran a hand through his messy brown hair. "Finish this and start being Garrett's Garrett."

"For the record, I'm not allowed to kiss the players," Serena smirked as Garrett walked up to the table. He laughed while beginning to chalk up. Across the table, Danny had skipped past staring daggers at Garrett. If looks could kill, thought Sadie, Garrett's blood and guts would be sprayed all over the lounge from the shotgun glare Danny was giving him. Garrett didn't appear to notice, however. Once Serena finished racking he bent over the edge of the table to place the cue ball.

"There it is," Sadie heard Michelle murmur as Garrett lined up his shot before breaking the nine-ball diamond apart. A sigh of relief fell over the high top as the 4 ball banked off another ball before dropping into a pocket. After studying the table for a moment Garrett set up his next shot. This time he drove the cue ball into the 1, sending it between two other balls to clip the 9 ball and drop it into a corner pocket, winning the game in two shots.

Garrett's nod of approval was directed towards himself as a smattering of light applause came from the gathered crowd. Even Serena looked impressed as she quickly collected the balls to rerack them. Across the table, Danny hadn't moved. The basketball player was as still as a statue, painting Garrett with the same murderous expression that he had ever since play resumed. As he stepped around the table to break for the first time that night never took his eyes off of Garrett who, as best Sadie could tell, was looking anywhere except at his opponent.

After rolling his shoulder several times, Danny drove his pool stick forward with the same anger. The diamond exploded, sending balls across the table and somehow dropping one of them on the break. His next shot, however, had too much speed on it and caused the 1 ball to careen off the side of the rail before it could fall into the side pocket. Cursing, Danny watched Garrett with the same furious anger as he dropped several more balls before missing, only for Danny to miss during his turn. "Fuck," Danny spat as Garrett eventually sunk the 9 ball to make it three games to two. "How are you getting this fucking lucky!"

Garrett didn't respond. He didn't even look at Danny, which caused him to fume further. Once again his break was angry. The crack of the cue ball sounded like a gunshot as Danny failed to sink a shot. With the balls spread over the table, however, Garrett couldn't get a good shot on the 1, but neither could Danny on his turn. The pair traded the lead for several turns before

Garrett finally sank the 9 ball to take his third game. As the two men headed back to their respective friends for the five-minute intermission, Sadie swore Danny's pool cue was going to snap under the pressure he was exuding on it at the sight of his opponent clawing his way back.

X X X X X

"How is he fucking doing this?" Danny chugged his glass of ice water and slammed it down on the table. Flecks of ice flew from the glass at the impact. "I was wiping the floor with him and the second West swaps spit with half our graduating class he starts winning? Motherfucker. I need a fucking drink."

"No you don't," Tyler shot back. "You need to take a breath and focus, Danny. You're ten seconds away from going on tilt and you know it. Take advantage of this time out and get your mind right."

Danny took a deep breath before hissing, "I know, I know. Just, that fucker's never been good at anything in his life! There's no way he should be beating me, especially with his hand in a fucking splint." He glanced over at the other side of the bar. West had the splint off and was slowly flexing his fingers while Bedford held a bag of ice against his wrist. "I've been playing since I was fifteen! Did the Polley's have a pool table and he spent all his time practicing when he wasn't beating off?"

"What I do know is that he can play, and so can you." Tyler stepped around the high top so he was standing in front of his friend. "You're tied. You win two more and this whole thing is dead and buried in your favor."

"Another ice water for Danny," Amy asked the waitress who was passing by before turning to Danny. "Tyler's right." She didn't notice the withering glare Tyler was giving her as she remarked, "You can still put Garrett in his place. I don't know anything about basketball or sports, but I know people. He's still afraid of you. You had him rattled those first three games until he played Seven Minutes in Heaven with his little stable of hoes. Get back in his head and you got him."

Danny nodded, followed by Tyler a moment later. "Yeah. Yeah," Tyler agreed, "that makes sense. He hasn't looked you in the eyes. Ever since he started winning he hasn't looked you in the eyes."

"He hasn't said a word to you either," added Amy.

"You want to rattle him? Get in his face before the next game. But don't threaten him," Tyler cautioned. "There might not be any cameras, but all it takes is someone posting something on Twitter later tonight..."

"Got it," Danny said as Tyler trailed off. "Rattle him. I can do that."

"How's your shoulder?"

"It's still good. Nothing I can't handle."

"Come here."

"I said, it's nothing I can't handle!" Danny quickly shook his head. "Shit. Sorry. I just want this fucking over with."

Tyler ignored his friend's outburst. "Let me look at it."

Danny rolled his eyes before relenting. "I said it's fine," he groused while Tyler gently pressed his fingers against the joint and surrounding tissue. "No pain, no discomfort."

"Still, be careful. Take your time and use controlled shots. He isn't worth throwing your shoulder out and missing the rest of the season. The Gulls are more important. Finish this smart, OK?"

Danny nodded sharply in agreement before getting to his feet. As he headed away from the table, Amy made a disdainful noise towards Tyler. "Seriously, are you trying to get him to quit? He's got Garrett on the ropes! Try giving a pep talk next time."

"Don't start with me, Amy," Tyler growled.

"What the hell is your problem? You've been snapping at me since I got here."

Tyler turned towards Amy. "You're the reason we're all here, because someone had to whisper in Danny's ear last night and set him off. "

"Because he needed to know the truth. Do you want to walk down the street tomorrow and see Garrett coming the other way knowing what he did to Danny? See him smirking about how he got one over on your best friend?"

"It was ten damn years ago, Amy. I honestly don't care, and considering Garrett's a rabbit in headlights at the sight of Danny, I don't think he cares either."

"Well, apparently Danny cares," Amy answered with clenched teeth. "We'll continue this conversation after he's five grand richer."

X X X X X

"Alright!" Kim clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention. "Final games! Danny, Garrett, front and center!"

Garrett took a final sip of his club soda. "Here we go. Just got to run the table two more times. No pressure." He took a deep breath to brace himself and smacked the edge of the high top with his good hand before turning around...

"Hey, asshole."

...to find Danny right in his face.

Looming over Garrett, Danny invaded every square inch of his personal space. Gio had begun to stand up when Danny, never taking his eyes off of Garrett, held up one finger. "Sit your ass back down before I sue you for knocking my damn tooth out. Same for you, Polley." It took a moment for Gio to sit back down. When he did, Danny laughed without mirth. "See? Your friends can't help you now, West. It's you and me, and we both know every time it's been one-on-one I've left you bloody and broken."

Garrett's jaw moved back and forth as he screwed up his courage to stand his ground. "Well," Danny continued, "I can't leave you bloody, but I can sure as fuck leave you broken and broke."

Garrett flinched as Danny raised his arm. "You're gonna blow it and it's gonna be proof that in the end, you're nothing more than a loser. And when you're a loser, the only people who will want to play you will be other losers because they know they can beat you." Danny stared directly at Sadie. "And the only women who'll pity fuck you will be losers too."

Garrett didn't respond to the taunt. But Danny still laughed when he looked at him again. "Yeah, I can see it in your eyes. Two words. Choke artist. You never had it when push came to shove. Soak it in West. This is the closest to greatness you're ever gonna be."

"Hey." Garrett turned at the sound of Serena's voice. The tall blonde was standing over the racked diamond of pool balls as she stared at the two men. "Time to break. Danny, you're up."

Danny stepped back, his eyes still drilling into Garrett, as he moved to the edge of the table and set up against the rail. This time his stroke was smooth and powerful. Danny took the first four balls of the game before Garrett could shoot. However, on his shot, he missed the 5 ball entirely, instead bouncing the 7 off a nearby rail. "Thanks for the free shot," Danny said mockingly as he took the cue ball in hand and set himself up to easily drop the 5 ball. From there Danny ran the table to win his fourth game. "Remember West," he taunted, massaging his shoulder while Serena racked, "you have to hit the lowest numbered ball first for your shot to count."